ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — Nathan Church had three hits, Alec Burleson drove in two runs and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for three runs in the sixth inning to defeat the Cleveland Guardians 5-3 on Wednesday afternoon at Busch Stadium.

Dustin May delivered a strong six-inning start for the Cardinals, and Riley O’Brien pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save as St. Louis secured its second consecutive victory to claim the three-game series after dropping the opener.

The Guardians struck quickly against May. Steven Kwan led off the game with a double and later scored on a two-out, RBI single by Kyle Manzardo, giving Cleveland an early 1-0 lead.

St. Louis answered in the second against Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi. Church led off with a bunt single and scored on a two-out RBI single by catcher Pedro Pagés, tying the game at 1.

The game remained deadlocked until the bottom of the sixth, when the Cardinals mounted their decisive rally against reliever Connor Brogdon. Masyn Winn and Church led off with back-to-back singles. After a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk loaded the bases, JJ Wetherholt lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Winn to give St. Louis its first lead at 2-1.

Burleson then delivered the critical blow, grounding a two-run single up the middle that was deflected by shortstop Brayan Rocchio, allowing both Church and Victor Scott II to score and extending the Cardinals’ advantage to 4-1.

Cleveland responded immediately in the top of the seventh. With two outs and a runner on first, Daniel Schneemann kept the inning alive with an infield single. Bo Naylor followed by lashing a two-run double to center field, cutting the St. Louis lead to 4-3.

The Cardinals, however, reclaimed the two-run cushion in their half of the seventh. Pinch-runner Ramón Urías, who replaced Nolan Gorman after a leadoff single, advanced on a groundout and scored on an RBI double by Church, his third hit of the game, making it 5-3.

From there, the St. Louis bullpen shut the door. JoJo Romero recorded a key out in the seventh, and O’Brien struck out two in a flawless ninth to seal the win.

May (2-2) earned the victory, allowing one run on six hits and one walk while striking out four over six steady innings. He effectively worked around traffic, aided by two double plays turned behind him.

Cecconi was inefficient for Cleveland, throwing 87 pitches over four innings. He allowed one run on three hits but issued a career-high five walks. Brogdon (2-2) took the loss, surrendering three runs on three hits in 1 1/3 innings of relief.

Jordan Walker doubled in the eighth to extend his hitting streak to 11 games for the Cardinals.

The loss marked the first time this season the Guardians have dropped consecutive games, falling to 10-9. The Cardinals evened their record at 10-8.

UP NEXT

Guardians: Return home to open a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday. Logan Allen (1-1, 4.91 ERA) is scheduled to start the opener for Cleveland.

Cardinals: Enjoy an off-day Thursday before opening a three-game road series against the Houston Astros on Friday. Kyle Gibson (1-1, 4.26) is expected to take the mound for St. Louis.